comments regarding the morra gambit

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3

i don't think i know how to play this too well - i seem to always get in trouble against players who know what they are doing. i have the book winning with the smith-morra gambit, but i can't seem to justify the title too well. the opening is fun to play, until i start losing 🙁

i looked up the opening stats on my small database and of 484 games, white won 171, lost 212, and there were 101 draws. so that is perhaps not too encouraging.

anyone have thoughts on this opening? any thoughts on gambits in general?

in friendship,
prad

Hi,
Please allow me to give my opinion about gambit:

Gambit is the opening that leads you in a terrible open fight. So, win or lose might depends on how far the players can analyze the next move. The further you can analyze, the more chance of winning you can get. Because of the type of this opening is very offensive, so it would end in win or lose. I'm a bit surprised that statistically it has 171 draws.

Well, it's chess. It's art. No one can prejudice of win, lose, or draw just from the opening.
It's only a style that you want to play.

Bye..

Tried it 5 times.
Got crushed 5 times.
Prolly not the openings fault though 😛

But serious,I don't know if it's any good.All I know is that it doesn't suit me at all.

Originally posted by pradtf
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3

i don't think i know how to play this too well - i seem to always get in trouble against players who know what they are doing. i have the book winning with the smith-morra gambit, but i can't seem to ...[text shortened]... ening? any thoughts on gambits in general?

in friendship,
prad

well hey, if GM Landa was able to draw with the smith-morra gambit against Kasparov then it should have prospects for lesser mortals!!
Here's a useful analysis I found on the web:

http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Openings/Smith-Morra/instr_open_Smith_Morra_Part1.htm

I play it all the time OTB vs. Sicilian with awesome results.....normally I can get some great attacks going....although you need to be familiar with the plans, and typical tactics, not the theory. White normally plays Bc4, 0-0, Qe2, Rfd1 and attacks the d-pawn....there are some really cheap quick wins you can get off this opening with Sacs on f7 with the bishop. I think if white has decent attacking and tactical skills, and is familiar with the opening and it's typical positions, then he gets compensation for the pawn, and normally wins it back with a better position. Although I have to say that this opening isn't played much against GMs or by them.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
I play it all the time OTB vs. Sicilian with awesome results.....normally I can get some great attacks going.... ... Although I have to say that this opening isn't played much against GMs or by them.

One of my earliest (and best) wins against an International Master in OTB play was with the Smith-Morra Gambit. Any comments, questions, disagreements, or analytical corrections would be greatly appreciated:-

Tebb,D (2290) - Povah,N (2380) [B21]
ENG-chT 93/94 (4NCL), 1994
[Tebb]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 A waiting move, to see what sort of Sicilian he intended ;-) 2...e6 In those days, I didn't like playing against the Kan or Paulsen, so on with the Morra! 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nge7 7.Bg5 f6 8.Be3 a6 9.0-0 b5 10.Bb3 Ng6 11.Nd4 In these sort of positions, White's standard set-up with Qe2 and rooks on d1 and c1 is not so effective. Therefore I switched to the plan of playing f4. 11...Bb7 12.Qh5 [Unfortunately 12.f4 runs into 12...Bc5] 12...Nxd4 13.Bxd4 b4 [13...Bd6;
13...Rc8] 14.Na4 Be7 [It would be very risky to take the pawn. Eg. 14...Bxe4 15.Rfe1 f5 16.f3 Bc6 17.Rad1 with tremendous pressure on Black's centre.] 15.Rae1 My plan is to push the f-pawn to f5, hitting the knight and opening a few lines. 15...Bc6 16.f4 Rb8? I presume he didn't want to allow my knight to come to b6, but this is a mistake. He should have castled. 17.f5 Qa5 Pinning the knight. It doesn't work, but he didn't have anything better. 18.e5! Bxa4 19.Bxa4 [Even stronger than 19.fxg6 Bc5 20.gxh7+ Kd8 21.Bf2] 19...Qxa4 20.fxg6 Now he doesn't have ..Bc5 20...b3 21.gxh7+ Kd8 22.Bc3 f5 Desperately trying to close the position. [If 22...bxa2 23.exf6 Bxf6 (23...gxf6 24.Ba5+ Kc8 25.Rc1+ Kb7 26.Rc7+ Ka8 27.Qf3+ d5 28.Qf2 Rb7 29.Rxb7 Kxb7 30.Qb6+ Ka8 31.Qxa6+ Kb8 32.Bc7+! Kxc7 33.Qxa4 picking up Black's queen) 24.Rxf6! gxf6 25.Bxf6+ Kc8 26.Bxh8 a1Q 27.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 28.Kf2 Rxb2+ 29.Bxb2 Qxb2+ 30.Kg3 when the pawn on the 7th rank gives White an easy win.] 23.axb3 Rxb3 [23...Qh4 fails to 24.Ba5+ Kc8 25.Rc1+ Kb7 26.Qf3+] 24.Qf7! Bc5+ 25.Kh1 Qh4 26.Qg8+ Winning a rook for nothing, so he resigned. 1-0

Dave

I played the morra gambit only once. Got worried and tried to recover the pawn which I did. realized that the gambit wasn,t for me .now i play 3Bb5 with good results

Originally posted by David Tebb
One of my earliest (and best) wins against an International Master in OTB play was with the Smith-Morra Gambit.

i play this opening always

with a bit of learning of the theory(read a few good websites on iy for an hour) and then just play it to get a feel for it.

spectacular wins and losses are to be had(as with most openings with it)

i got one win with a rook and 2 pawns down with smith-morra which fritz agreed was a win i'm proud to say(took another 20 moves to get the resignation as it not so obvious to us mere mortals)

A hard-fought game from the 1994 British Championship. This win put me (briefly!) amongst the leaders.

Tebb,D (2290) - Gillani,T (2405) [B21]
BCF-ch Norwich (4), 1994
[Tebb]

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 a6 7.0-0 Qc7 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.Bg5!? [No doubt inspired by this game, a couple of players have experimented with the same piece sacrifice one move earlier: 9.Nd5 exd5 10.exd5+ Ne7 11.d6 Qxd6 12.Ng5 Qc6 13.Bxf7+ Kd8 14.Bf4 (14.Bb3 Ke8 15.Nf7 Rg8 16.Ne5 Qe4 17.Bf7+ Kd8 18.Be3 Ned5 19.Bxg8 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Qxe3 21.fxe3 Bc5 22.Bb3 Bxe3+ 23.Kh1 Bc5 24.Nd3 Bd4 25.Rad1 d6 26.Nf4 Be5 27.Nd5 Bg4 28.Rd2 Rc8 29.Re1 Nd7 30.Ne3 Bh5 31.Nc4 Ke7 32.Nxd6 Rc7 33.Nc4 Kf6 34.Nxe5 Nxe5 35.Rd6+ Kf5 36.Rd5 Re7 37.Bc2+ Kf6 38.Rd6+ Kg5 39.Rd5 Kf6 40.Rd6+ Kg5 41.Bxh7 Bf7 42.Bb1 Bc4 43.b3 Bb5 44.Re3 Bc6 45.Rd4 Kf6 46.h3 g5 47.Rd6+ Kg7 48.Bf5 Re8 49.Bd7 Re7 50.Bxc6 bxc6 51.Kg1 Kf8 52.Kf2 a5 53.Ke2 Kg7 54.g3 Kf7 55.h4 gxh4 56.gxh4 Kg7 57.h5 Kf7 58.Rg6 Nxg6 59.hxg6+ Kf6 60.Rxe7 Kxe7 61.Kd3 Kf6 62.Kc4 Kxg6 63.Kc5 Kf6 64.Kxc6 a4 65.bxa4 Ke7 66.a5 1-0 Langrock,H-Luckow,R/Kiel 2000) 14...Nfd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.Rfd1 Qf5 17.g4 Qf6 18.Rd6 Qxd6 19.Nf7+ Ke8 20.Nxd6+ Kd8 21.Nf7+ 1-0 Wortel,M-Azadmanesh,M/Hengelo 1995;
9.Rd1 Bc5] 9...Ng4?! I don't like this move, even though it carries a massive threat... [Far more sensible was 9...d6 ] 10.Nd5! The exclamation mark is for having the courage to make an intuitive sacrifice. It was impossible to see all the following variations over the board. [Not 10.h3?? Nd4! 11.Nxd4 (11.Qd1 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 Qh2# other moves lose the queen) 11...Qh2#] 10...Qb8 Sensibly declining the sacrifice. What would have happened if he'd taken? Let's look at a few lines: [10...exd5 11.exd5+ Ne7 (The alternative way to hang onto a piece is worse: 11...Nce5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 (12...Qxe5 13.Qxg4+-) 13.f4 f6 (13...Bc5+ 14.Kh1 f6 15.fxe5 fxg5 16.d6+-; 13...Bc5+; 13...Qc5+ 14.Kh1 f6 15.fxe5 fxg5 16.d6) 14.fxe5 fxg5 15.d6+- Black won't be able to survive for long. ; 12.d6! (12.Rfe1? d6) 12...Qxd6 13.h3 (13.Rad1 Qc5 (13...Qb6 14.Bxe7 Bxe7 15.Rfe1 Qd8) 14.Bf4; 13...Nf6 (13...f6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.hxg4 fxg5 16.Rac1+-; 13...Nh6 14.Rfe1 f6 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Rad1) 14.Ne5 Nfd5 15.Rfe1 f6 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Qxh8 fxg5 19.Qg8 Qf6 20.Qxd5± and White has regained material whilst still attacking. ] 11.Rad1 I still needed to stop ...Nd4 [11.Rfd1 was an alternative;
I never even considered 11.Bf4 Bd6 which throws away the initiative] 11...b5 12.Bb3 Bc5 [12...Bd6 13.h3 Nh2 14.Nxh2 Bxh2+ 15.Kh1 Be5 16.f4÷] 13.h3 [13.Bf4 d6 14.Rc1] 13...Nge5 14.Nxe5 [14.Bf4=] 14...Nxe5 [Not 14...Qxe5?? 15.Bf4+-] 15.Kh1!? Unpinning the f-pawn. I was determined to give up a piece! [ A safer alternative was 15.Rc1 d6 16.Bf4] 15...exd5 Finally he takes the knight! 16.f4 h6 [16...Ng6 17.exd5+ Kf8 18.Rde1 Bb7 19.f5±;
16...Nc4 17.exd5+ Kf8 (17...Ne3 18.f5 0-0 19.Bxe3 Re8 20.Rd3 Qe5 21.Qf3 Bxe3 22.Re1 Qxb2 23.Rdxe3±😉 18.d6 Bb7 19.Bxc4 bxc4 20.Qe5 f6 (20...Bb6 21.Bh6+-) 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kg8 23.Qg5+ Kf7 24.Qxc5÷ (24.Qf5+=) ] 17.fxe5 hxg5 18.Bxd5 [18.exd5? is too slow] 18...Ra7 [It would be suicidal to castle: 18...0-0?? 19.Rxf7! (19.Qh5+- is also crushing) 19...Rxf7 20.Qh5 and Black is mated in 6 moves;
18...Bb7 19.Bxf7+ Kd8 20.Qg4‚] 19.Bxf7+ Ke7?! [19...Kd8 is better] 20.Rd5 Qb6 21.Qd2 Kd8 [21...Be3 22.Qb4+ Kd8 23.e6+-] 22.e6 [22.Qxg5+ Be7 23.Qxg7 Qh6 24.Qg3=] 22...g4 [22...Be7 23.exd7 Bb7 (23...Bxd7 24.Rd1 Qc6 25.Bg6 Rf8 26.Bf5±😉 24.Re5÷] 23.Qg5+ Be7 24.Qxg7 By now we were both very short of time and the next dozen or so moves were made in a furious time scramble. So not surprisingly we both made mistakes. [24.Qxg4=] 24...Rf8 25.h4? I was trying to be too clever [I should have played the obvious 25.Qxg4 with at least equality] 25...Qe3! I now realised my mistake. Black is getting counterplay. 26.Qxg4 Rc7 Another good move, intending ..Rc1 27.Rfd1 Rc1 28.Kh2 Rxd1 29.Qxd1 I had to take back this way to keep the pressure on [29.Rxd1 Qh6³ (29...d6) ] 29...Qf4+ 30.g3 Qf2+ 31.Kh3? Mistakenly still trying to win. [31.Kh1 seems to lead to a draw: 31...Bb7 32.Rxd7+ Kc8 33.Qc1+ (33.Rxb7? Kxb7 34.Qd7+ Ka8 35.Qxe7 Rc8-+) 33...Bc5 (33...Kb8?? 34.Qc7+) 34.Bg6=] 31...Rxf7! For some reason, I missed this obvious counter-sacrifice. 32.exf7 [32.Rxd7+?? Ke8-+] 32...d6+ 33.g4 Qxh4+ 34.Kg2 Qxg4+?? He still had to make 6 moves to reach the time control and his flag was raised, so he probably thought he was being sensible in forcing the queens off. But the move's a blunder. [He should have played 34...Bxg4 35.Qd4 Qh3+ 36.Kg1 Qg3+ 37.Kf1 Qf3+ 38.Kg1 Qxf7µ when I have a few checks, and can pick up one or two pawns, but black's bishops must give him the advantage.] 35.Qxg4 Bxg4 36.Rg5! A nice tactic, which he overlooked. It wins a bishop. 36...Be6 37.Rg8+ Kd7 38.f8Q Bxf8 39.Rxf8 Bxa2 40.Ra8 Bb1 41.Kf3 The time scramble was over, and we spent a few minutes filling in the moves on our scoresheets. The clocks went back an hour, which gave me plenty of time to find the most accurate moves to win. 41...Ke6 42.Kf4 Kd7 43.Rxa6 Kc7 44.Ke3 Bc2 45.Kd4 Bb3 46.Kc3 Bg8 The bishop has very few squares [46...Be6 47.e5;
46...Bf7? 47.Ra7+;
46...Bc4 47.b3] 47.b3! Taking another square from the bishop, and putting Black in zugzwang. 47...d5 [47...Kd7 48.Rb6] 48.Rg6 d4+ [48...Bf7 49.Rg7] 49.Kb4 Seeing the bishop trapped, he resigned. 1-0

Originally posted by David Tebb
A hard-fought game from the 1994 British Championship. This win put me (briefly!) amongst the leaders.

over the board . . . no problems!but everyone who talked of playing the morra here play at one point or another..Nxc3...wrong acording to me because me and a friend analyzed it to boredom...why not instead try 4.Bc4?!😲